Shortly after reworking its F500 entry-level series, to offer a more attractively priced F500E home cinema version on some models, Scottish manufacturer Fyne Audio is now updating its F500 series to the F500S.
Still featuring the coaxial IsoFlare drivers for which the brand is renowned, the F500S also retains its BassTrax Tractrix bass dispersion system, but with an optimized cabinet and port to reduce resonance and vibration. The crossovers are also upgraded with some of the technologies derived from developments in the F700 series.
Superior to the F500E models, the new F500S are also designed for users who want to use these speakers for hi-fi and home-cinema listening. In addition to the compact F500S version (950 € per pair, no price variation with the F500) and two two-and-a-half-way floorstanding speakers F501S (2 000 € per pair) and F502S (2 800 € per pair), a central or side-mounted F500S LCR model (600 € per unit) will be available like the others from now. They will then be joined by a small compact F5S (700 € per pair).
Already a reference in the moving-magnet (MM) cell category, Nagaoka has set its sights even higher with the MP-700.
At Vumètre, many of us own the MP-120 and the MP-150, the holy grail for any rock fan who likes to keep a taut sound in analog listening. And to test the MM part of the high-end preamplifiers, we also own an MP-500, set against all the cells in its range (at 999 €, so mostly MCs).
With the MP-700, Nagaoka goes even further than the MP-500 by increasing the use of permalloy circuits, a technology derived from Moving Magnet (MM), which here becomes Moving Permalloy (hence the term “MP”), with a moving part of this material attached directly to the cantilever. The cantilever itself has been redesigned for this new cell, in Boron and combined with a 0.12 x 0.3 mm MicroRidge diamond. A flexible shock absorber on which the cantilever rests enhances vibration control, combined with a suspension wire to maintain precision control.
Housed in a highly rigid Duralumin body with three layers of nickel plating, tin plating and insulating coating, the MP-700 is even less subject to heat variations and external interference than other models in the range. Obviously handcrafted in Japan, this top-of-the-range MM cell is launched this month in Europe at a price of 1 299 €, or directly mounted on a cell holder (MP-700H) at 1 399 €. We cannot wait to listen!
Vincent Brient may be headquartered a few kilometers from Mont-Saint-Michel, but he is clearly not a tourist, given the number of projects and changes Totaldac undergoes every year !
After reworking his DACs to improve performance with the d1-unity range (Tested in VU#56 FR ; Remarkable), the Supélec engineer launched a new range of network transports earlier this year with the d1-streamer-live and sublime, and is now back to CD playback with a d1-CD transport.
Compared throughout its development to a tape player in order to reproduce the analog sound as closely as possible, the new CD transport uses Totaldac’s well-known frame, in which a massive copper plate is decoupled by three anti-vibration feet below, and internally by four springs to another carbon plate, on which an Austrian PRO-CD8 playback mechanism sits. Integrated from the top, the CD, blocked by a pallet press, can then be left in the open air, or covered by a hood, which obviously limits dust as well as reinforcing the silence of rotation.
Limited to 44.1 kHz in 16 bits, i.e. the sampling rate of a CD, this transport cannot read SACDs, but it gives the signal reliability to the 40th of a femtosecond thanks to its high-precision clock. To connect it to the DAC, coaxial (BNC adaptable) and AES/EBU digital inputs are available, while the Totaldac live-power ultra-low-noise power supply is added as standard, upgradeable with other, even more powerful, from the brand.
This new high-performance Breton player can be tried out directly by contacting the manufacturer on its website, and is priced at 7 500 €.
Launched in mid-2024 in a classy blue lacquered version to mark the British brand’s 50th anniversary, the SCM20ASL return in 2025 as part of ATC’s Classic Series.
Derived from the professional range model, the SCM20ASL are back in service in the hi-fi range, having been presented (and tested in our French VU#54) in a limited edition of 150 units a year earlier. They now reappear in a more classic wood cabinet, with finishes already familiar from other ATC Classic Series active loudspeakers from the SCM50ASL upwards.
Compared with the limited edition, the front panel loses its leather covering, which seemed to have a slight impact on wave diffusion, and the rear panel reverts to black rather than silver aluminium. As for the rest, the excellent 6“ mid-bass driver and 1” tweeter of the passive version remain, with frequency sensitivity adjustable via a rear knob. In the cabinet, these active units use the two Class A/B amplifiers of 200W (for mid/bass) and 50W (for treble), already tried and tested on the excellent pro version.
As a reminder, “active” is a different term from “wireless”, which always implies “connected”, i.e. with an internal streamer. An active speaker only has built-in amplification, so for it to work, it still needs to be connected to a source, and in this case, the SCM20ASL have a balanced analog XLR terminal on the rear panel.
Last year, the small number of limited-edition units available meant that we had to wait impatiently for this classic version, which we hope to listen to very soon to verify its sound quality. Prices have so far only been announced for the UK, at £6 495 per pair for a standard version, £7 295 for the premium versions and £7v845 for the black or white Piano editions, i.e. from £1 000 more than the pro version, but £4 000 less than the anniversary edition!
Previewed at the Axpona show in the USA, the Aspire is the new entry-level turntable from Polish turntable specialist J. Sikora.
For the first part of 2025, J. Sikora is launching a turntable below its Initial Line. The Delrin chassis remains unchanged from the higher series, but the speed controller is now integrated in the lower left-hand corner, and the rotary axis is re-centered in the middle, rather than shifted to the right.
Despite this, the Aspire seems to maintain a high level of stability, notably thanks to its substantial weight of 21 kg, but its design is more classic and less massive than the larger models. In keeping with this idea, the chainring is lowered, still on inverted ceramic ball bearings and powered by a belt on 33 or 45 rpm speeds. The arm seems also to have been simplified while retaining the brand’s cherished principles, for this new turntable to which a cartridge will have to be added, and for which the sales price is not yet official. We can’t wait to listen!
